Settlement amount: $515 million
Year of settlement: 2007
Drugs involved: The atypical antipsychotic Abilify (aripiprazole); the antidepressant Serzone (nefazadone); several anticancer drugs
Criminal charges filed? No
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) heavily marketed its antipsychotic Abilify to treat symptoms of dementia in the elderly and to treat aggression and other behavioral problems in children, conditions the drug is not approved to treat. Also, despite a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) black box warning cautioning against potentially fatal side effects of Abilify in the elderly, BMS sent a special task force of sales teams to nursing homes to promote the drugs, according to the Department of Justice. The government further accused BMS of paying medical professionals and pharmacists to dispense its products, offering them kickbacks and expensive vacations to luxury resorts.